Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

Can't for the life of me get nice clear water!

0

Hi all!

I have a planted 55gal I cannot seem to keep clear ever! I have 4 platys, 1 off the wall algae eater(small 1/2 as much bigger than the platys are), and an assortment of 2 green, 2 blue, and 2 red cobra guppy males. Also with 3 female guppies. I did have more a couple months ago but a serious case of ich wiped out 8 of my fish(2 dwarf gourami, male & female Moscow black guppies, the other 4 platys, and the other 3 female guppies). Needless to say its been an uphill battle, oh did I mention they have been mating like crazy too! I have in a separate tank 25 cobra guppy fry.

So I have been trying to get nice clear water but with ill effect, my water stays constant at a PH of 8. I have a API water pillow in to try and lower my water hardness since its extremely high(our water is totally bad here). I have some rock structure built up for the fish to hid in, around, and under which is comprised of flag stone rock. On the other end of the tank I have a few small pieces of limestone rock adding a nice white contrast to that side of the tank. I have a large piece of drift wood from a local river which I boiled along with all the rock that is in the tank. The sub straight is soil I washed very well from a certain undisturbed part of my yard, and the sand is simple play sand which I washed very well too. I have it planted with dwarf sage, anacharis, riccia, rotella indica, and dwarf hair grass all of which have completely grown up and filled out the tank in a matter of 4 months. I have a 2 bulb aqualife T5 48" fixture with the 10,000k and actinic(blue) bulb I purchased it from a friend had in it. My filter is a aquatop 3 stage canister filter 264 gph which I have medium foam pad and finer pads on top of that in the bottom try and fluval bio max ceramic rings in the top two trays. It's only turning over the tank just under 5 times an hour I fear its not enough filtering capacity...

I only feed my fish 2 times a week now, but about a month ago I was feeding them everyday. I've sucked out all the poo I could find over the last couple days that was in the cracks of the rocks and what not. Could I still be feeling the after effects of over feeding or do I have a filter that is to small for this tank? Could this also be constant bacteria blooms? The tank had to be cycled by now I let it set and run for a month before I added any fish, I even took some of the water and a filter from my sons 15gal tank to help jump start the cycling when I first started it.

I have questioned the stone I've used and the soil from the back part of my yard along with play sand, but 3 weeks ago I redid my sons 15 gal column tank with the exact same rock, soil, sand, and clipping of plants from the 55gal. The water is still so clear its crazy, it has a aqueon quiet flow 10-20 gal filter on it with a 3" gold fish and a male betta. So if it were the material I used the same would be happening in this tank right? Can someone please shed some light on what is going on before I go nuts.

You let the tank run for a month before adding fish, what did you use to completely cycle the tank during that time? An ammonia source is needed or you will lose the cycle. Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

On a side note, that goldfish does not belong in a 15 gallon tank and the betta should not be housed in the same tank as a goldfish because their environmental requirements are very different.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me

The problem is the cloudy water, it doesn't smell or anything. But at one time I did have a small tetra submersible filter I picked up from walmart when I started seeing the fry in the tank. Before I made up a fry tank I had the filter in the 55gal. when the water started getting cloudy I would turn it on, and a couple days later the water would start to clear up. The little white filter cartridge would start turning a brownish color. Could my canister filter not be big enough for this tank? Did the carbon in the little cartridge make all the difference in the little filter?

On another note the gold fish and the beta seam to be happy their color is nice and vibrant, and they get along with each other hanging out in the rotella together. they are both still growing some but I think they are about full grown by now.

You let the tank run for a month before adding fish, what did you use to completely cycle the tank during that time? An ammonia source is needed or you will lose the cycle. Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

On a side note, that goldfish does not belong in a 15 gallon tank and the betta should not be housed in the same tank as a goldfish because their environmental requirements are very different.

I was fish sitting for a coworker for a couple weeks for some 2-3" koi for his pond so I threw them in the tank for the first couple weeks